I Understand
by crystalxangel
Summary: CH12 - 12/31/12 UPDATE (Happy New Year!)! Requested by Lillythemarshmellowqueen. Ren meets Jeanne. She says they know each other. He doesn't remember. Plus, his sister's up to no good again. Rated T for cursing.
1. Meeting

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Requested by: Lillythemarshmellowqueen

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: So, this is my second SK request, by Lilly-chan. And the pairing is… BIBAPBIBAP-BING! Ren and Jeanne! This couple is rare to be paired up with, but let's see if there are sparks between the two in my story. Hope you'll like it! Really do!

* * *

The Story

"You're so stupid, Ren!"

Then, a slap came across the hallow walls of the school. Tears of a young woman slid down her cheeks and her hand shaking. The man in front of him made no emotion, nor a movement. She saw how confident he was in his actions, so she ran. But really didn't expect him to run after her. And he didn't.

His golden eyes, full of unknown emotions looked away and soon enough his feet began to walk away too. His head down, knowing what he did was right – for him.

'How typical,' he said to himself. A frown followed by those thought of words. He walked, heading to the front gates of school, but still carrying the words 'typical.'

It was, for him, always 'typical'. Typical day at school. Typical girls flooding his desk everyday. Typical heartbreaks at the end. And finally, a typical lecture from Yoh Asakura, his light-headed, but warm-hearted friend.

Yoh was already waiting for Ren just near the gates. He knew that Ren broke up with another girl. And he would have to give out another lecture.

Once Yoh had seen Ren, he gave him a worried face, rather than a disappointed one. He always thought that Ren was never the type of person to be such a playboy, a heartbreaker and practically a player – all just the same.

"Ren," he started as Ren passed him by. He followed and tried to keep up with his pace. He knew that Ren was trying to avoid him, as always. "Ren!"

"Shut it, Asakura."

"Ren, would you just listen up?" Yoh asked.

"Don't wanna hear it."

"But Ren!"

"If you want me to listen, you have to buy me a drink."

So, after a few walks, and a full silent treatment from the whole walk, Yoh managed to get to talk to Ren. But, even as they seated, there were no words spoken. Until…

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Ren asked as he folded his arms and crossed his legs together.

"What's up, Ren? I thought I already told you that these 'break-ups' would be no damn good. For you and those girls," Yoh said, honestly and modestly.

"It's not like I have a nice choice. That girl kept telling everyone that we were going out, even though we weren't. Plus, she knew what was coming," Ren answered.

"Well, if you weren't such an ass to her, she would've stop," Yoh answered.

"Here are your drinks, sir. A light coke and bottled water," the waitress said as she placed down their drinks on the table. Yoh smiled and thanked the waitress.

"Look who's talking. I wonder if Anna knows what you're doing when she's not around," Ren chuckled with a cold voice.

"Hey, it's not like that. I was just being nice. Unlike some people who-!"

"Yeah. Unlike _some_ people… Some people that you proclaim to be me!" And with that, Ren stood up, took his bag and ran as far away as he could from the brunette.

Ren didn't always want to be judged by others. He knew that they couldn't understand who or what he was. They couldn't find the light in him.

Sweat ran down his body as he already ran a kilometer away. Until he reached a park, he stopped and sat by under a sakura tree. Luckily, the people around had minded their business, rather than staring at him.

He panted and panted until he could finally catch his breath. He closed his eyes, but still didn't find the peace that he wanted.

"Ano, excuse me," a voice said just beside him. 'Great. Another one.' He opened his eyes and saw a silver-haired girl handing him a handkerchief. He accepted the handkerchief and thanked the girl. "No problem."

He wiped his face with the handkerchief and looked quietly at his sweat. The girl sat down beside him and asked, "Ne, it's not for me to intrude, but is there anything bothering you?"

'What is this girl thinking? Isn't she afraid that a total stranger like me would do something bad to her?'

"Eh, not really. Why do you ask?" Ren asked her.

"Your eyes. They're totally the same with mine."

"My eyes?" Ren asked. 'How could this girl say that we're alike just by looking at my eyes? She's creeps me out.'

"Yeah. Just by looking straight at them, I can tell. Like they say, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Don't you think?" she asked. She turned to him and smiled.

Ren looked at her and saw the cute innocence in her face. He bowed his head, lowering his bangs to cover his eyes. 'How could she smile so innocently? Why is she talking to me? She doesn't even know me…'

"Hey, why are you even talking to me? You don't even know me that much to be lecturing me about myself," Ren coldly said as his bad senses were once again in tact.

The girl stood up, smiling. He watched her as she stood up and looked at him, directly at the eyes. "Actually, I do." And with that, she strolled off.

Ren still looked at her, until not a strand of her hair could be seen as she walked downhill. 'Who… is she?'

Ren stood up and felt the handkerchief still on his hand. He stared at it for a while, the words of the girl echoing in his mind. 'I do.'

- - - - -

A few hours had passed and now it was nine in the evening. Ren's mind was only filled with the thoughts of the girl earlier. Questions of who she was, and how she knew him ran through every ten seconds in his mind. 'Could she really have meant that she knew me?'

"Ren?" a voice called out after a knock on the door. The person entered and closed the door behind.

"Hey! I didn't say you could come in!" Ren yelled out.

"Ooh, you're always so touchy," Jun, Ren's older sister, proclaimed. Ren stuck out his tongue. Jun sighed and said, "And childish, might I add."

Ren pouted and asked, "What brings you in here, anyway? It's not like you to just enter… Particularly in my room, too."

"I just figured… Is something bothering you?" Jun asked as she plopped herself down on Ren's bed. Ren folded his arms sighed. 'Is it _that_ obvious?'

"No, what makes you say that, anyways?"

"Well, one is the fact that you had greeted me when you came home," Jun said with her finger pointing on her chin, thinking if she were right.

Ren looked away and blushed. She was right. He did greet her when he came home. And for him, greeting her was the last thing on his mind. So practically, the first thing was about that girl.

"Secondly, Yoh called," with this, Jun stood up and walked closer to her little brother. Ren frowned at the moment she had mentioned the brunette's hair. "He told me what happened."

"Great. So what happens now since you know?"

"Nothing," Jun replied, with no hesitations. Actually confident with her words. Smiling and proud, not normally as she does.

"And since I am going to do nothing, I might as well serve you a bet," Jun said.

"Bet? What kind?" Ren asked, a little curious and interested.

"I bet you that you can't have a single and _decent_ girlfriend! One that suits your taste!" Jun proclaimed.

"That bet is so lame! I can't believe I wasted my time listening to it!" Ren shouted.

"Ooh, why is that, little brother?"

"Because-! Because… Wait, why is it again?" Ren thought for a while. Why wasn't he accepting the challenge, again? Hmm… he had totally forgotten (A/N: and basically me!).

"Well then, since you don't have an excuse, the bet begins!" Jun shouted happily.

"Hey! Wait! I didn't-!"

"You better find a girl who's totally decent, sweet and at least someone that suits your taste! If you can't or if you even DARE to break up with her within a week, you're gonna pay BIG TIME!" Jun said with a smirk across her face.

"Yeah right! There's nothing in the world that could make me do your stupid bet!" Ren shouted proudly, with a grin.

"Oh yeah? How about exposing some of your baby pictures? And don't forget, dear brother, I can publish them with just a snap of my fingers," Jun said. Shades of red were seen on Ren's cheeks.

"Alright, alright! Whatever! I'm doing it!" Ren said in loss. Jun smiled in pleasure and patted her little brother's head. "Good boy!"

'Man, why didn't I just burn those?' Ren sighed.

"And if you're wondering where I got those cute little pictures, I just asked uncle, grandmother and mother-dear of course!"

'Shit…'

* * *

And that's the end of Chapter 1!

If (miraculously) I manage to be given reviews, I'll continue this story… Well then… Hope ya enjoyed!


	2. Who?

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Requested by: Lillythemarshmellowqueen

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: I want to thank SKManiac-LuvsHao-sama for the FIRST review! And for Setsumi-san and 4gVn sOuL for the second and third :D Now, on with the story! Anyways, I have no choice on whether I do or do not continue the story. It is a request.

* * *

The Story 

Friday. The day that Ren chooses a girlfriend. One that will suit his taste… and help him win against his sister.

Ren was walking towards the school gates… When-

"REN!" shouted Yoh, running out from the school gates. Ren sighed in boredom and continued walking. Yoh approached him, about to grab his shoulders, when Ren pushed him and said, "Don't mess up my mood so early in the morning, would ya?"

"But Ren!"

"But what!?" Ren shouted in annoyance.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"WHAT!?" Ren shouted in surprise.

"Yeah, that's the new 'gossip' in school. And I think Pilika was the one who spread it," Yoh said, patting Ren's back.

"But… How? I mean… Jun and I talked about it only _last_ night. So… how could it have spread so quickly?" Ren asked to himself and practically to Yoh.

"Mm, I have no idea too. When I asked Pilika where she heard it from, she said it was confidential," Yoh answered.

"My life's a hell…" Ren said in imaginary tears.

"So, what are you going to do now, Ren?" Yoh asked. In whatever Ren planned to do, he would support him. Especially now in this situation.

"I… I don't know," Ren said in despair. If he had _any_, even stupid, ideas at all, he would plan to do it. But his mind was only filled with worry.

"Well, I do," a voice said from behind.

Chills went up Ren and Yoh's spine when they had heard the voice. The voice was calm and cool, and a little bit scandalous. But the owner of the voice was a very scary woman. Yoh slowly turned around and waved to her, "H-Hi A-Anna."

"God, the scary one…" Ren said under his breath.

"I heard that!" Anna said in annoyance. Ren winced, but seeing that Anna wasn't firing (or even hitting him at all); he returned his original posture and listened to what she had to say.

"Anyways, I have no time to waste on scolding someone as girl-less as you," Anna teased in an annoying way. A vein popped from Ren and his head went red.

"So Anna, why are you saying, exactly?" Yoh asked, with much curiosity as Ren.

"I'm saying that I can help Ren with his 'girl problems'."

"Oh my… did she just say _help_?" Ren asked. Maybe for Ren, Anna's 'help', was a tad too scary. Seeing how she treats Yoh at home, how could she 'help'?

"What, is that TOO hard to believe!?" Anna shouted.

Ren nodded.

"Urgh! I don't care if you don't want to listen; all I need is some peace n the school. You can't believe how many and I mean _many_ girls keep blabbering about _you_," Anna said with her brows, lowered, and voice, angered.

Ren chuckled, just to ease the tension between them and nodded. "Okay, okay. So what's your plan?"

"Well, I have four lucky choices for you," Anna said.

"Kindly just tell me what those four choices are," Ren said with a sigh.

"One, you take Tamao."

"No. She's my friend. And it'll be a bit strange."

"Two, Pilika."

"No. She's a bit of a fan girl of any boy. And there's the reason that she was the one who spread the news."

"Three, take me."

"O.o OMG," Ren said with a lot of shock. He turned to Yoh and saw him crying like a chibi.

"Anna! Why are you doing this to me?!" Yoh cried.

"What? What's so wrong with pretending?" Anna asked.

"No! Definitely no!"

"What do you mean!?" Anna said with a roar.

"I-I mean that, it would be too suspicious, right? Yoh _is_ your fiancée. So everyone _would_ think it would be suspicious, right?" Ren said with adrenaline.

"Mm, I guess you're right," Anna said. With this, Yoh sighed with ease and grinned.

"Well, then. Choice number four, Maiden (A/N: Since I don't know her last name, let's pronounce this as Mai-den) Jeanne."

"Jeanne?"

"You mean the vice governor in school?" Yoh asked. Anna nodded.

"Wait, who's Jeanne?"

"God, Ren. Don't you know who Jeanne is?" Yoh asked.

"No, that's why I'm asking," Ren answered with a little irritation.

"Maiden Jeanne, the vice governor of the school, a total rich girl, although pretty quiet, popular with the boys, is in Class 2-1, sits behind Tao Ren," Anna answered.

"She's in my class?" Ren asked with surprise.

"(O.o) You didn't even know?" Yoh asked, with a sweat drop. Ren shook his head. Yoh started to laugh in a low tone, but slowly laughed out loud (LOL). Ren's patience was loosing and soon enough tried to strangle him.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, haha… it's just… you didn't know!?" Yoh asked.

"Okay! I'm sorry if I'm so clueless! With all the girls around, who would know?" Ren said, releasing Yoh.

"So, are you up to it?" Anna asked.

"Wait, I'm just getting to know her and you're already asking that?" Ren answered.

"I thought you knew her though, aside from you guys being classmates and all," Anna answered.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you guys _were_ talking to each other under the sakura tree yesterday," Anna concluded. A gasp was heard from Ren. Slowly, he walked back a bit.

"What's wrong, Ren?" Yoh asked.

"T-That… that was her?" Ren said under his breathe.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWO 

Really appreciated the reviews! So I decided to continue. :3 Well then, hope I get more :D See ya on more chapters (maybe) to come.


	3. Jeanne: Side Story

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Requested by: Lillythemarshmellowqueen

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen. Except Misato.

Note: Yosh! Jeanne's Side Story is here! Next up, Ren's Side Story.

* * *

Jeanne's Side Story

'Ren still doesn't remember me, right?' Jeanne asked to herself. She walked sadly out of the school, or so to say, she walked out of the school with no emotion in her face, but just a smile that was forced to stay.

Everyone, on the other hand, was happily waving their friends goodbye. Each of them smiled with a true feature. And Jeanne was keeping her face hidden from this happy world…

Although she had many suitors, she was never contented to any of them. Or to point out, she didn't find the special something which she longed in them. Yes, they were impressive people and some were just plain, but she never really looked at them to as more than a friend.

"Jeanne!" a voice called out from behind. She looked and saw a lilac-haired girl smiling and waving to her. She placed her bag in front of her and waved a little back to her. As soon as that person was just by her side, she smiled at her.

"Misato-chan…"

"Hey, can I take a walk home with you?" Misato asked, smiling widely at her. Jeanne smiled and nodded. Misato was Jeanne's friend and co-worker in the student council. But aside from that, they were good neighbors… And Jeanne considered Misato as one of her special friends.

"So… I heard from Pilika that Ren was looking for a girlfriend," Misato answered bluntly. As soon as Jeanne had heard this she nodded and smiled weakly. "T-That's good… For Ren."

"Aw, don't be like that, Jeanne!" Misato said, trying to liven up her mood. Jeanne noticed this and tried to smile. "I-I… I really am happy for Ren. I mean… after he had already forgotten about me, I really wished him happiness since then…"

"Jeanne… You told me that it had saddened you… So… why are you trying to deny it now?" Misato asked, a little confused. Jeanne tightened her hold on her bag and tried to answer the right words. But nothing came to mind. "Uh… I… He… He deserves to be happy. That's all I think."

"Really…?" Misato asked, stopping in her tracks. Jeanne also stopped and nodded, with no hesitations. 'Why is Misato-chan asking anyway?'

"REALLY!?"

"Really."

"Okay then… If it's really okay with you, then…" Misato said with a tone. Misato continued to walk, followed by Jeanne. "I guess I'll ask Ren to a date!"

Jeanne stopped and looked directly at her. "Y-You will, Misato-chan?" Although she didn't realize it herself, Jeanne was anxious to hear why Misato was doing this. She had tightened her grip on her bag too. Misato stopped and looked at her. "Yeah…"

"…Because…"

"B-Because?" Jeanne asked.

"It's because… I'm finally falling for him," Misato concluded while she stuck her tongue out. And continued to walk away from Jeanne.

'Mi-Misato-chan…'

x.x.x.x.x.

"I'm home!" Jeanne shouted as she removed her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack. She placed down her bag and ran in the kitchen to check up on someone. "Nii-san? Mm… He's not here."

She ran to the living room and searched for him and called out, "Nii-san?" Her eyes kept searching but saw no tall, blonde man. She sighed and decided to rest in her room. She walked wobbly to the stairs until she heard a voice coming from the front door, "I'm home!"

She ran to the door and saw him. She smiled and greeted, "Welcome home, Marco-niisan!" A tall blonde man in front of her smiled back and greeted the same, "Welcome home too, Jeanne." After exchanging smiles, Jeanne walked up the stairs with a little more confidence in her actions.

Arriving in her room, she sighed and jumped on her bed. She sighed once more and thought, 'Misato… likes Ren… eh?' She took a pillow and covered it over her head. 'I can't think clearly… Is it because Misato-chan likes… Ren?'

She slowly closed her eyes and imagined for a while… 'Misato with Ren… I can see it. Misato's giggling and Ren is smirking at her cute feature… Why? Why could he choose Misato? Huh?' then slowly, the image of Misato faded. Until she saw herself with Ren. 'I… I'm with Ren… and… I'm smiling…'

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and saw tears in her eyes. She slowly sat on her bed and wiped the tears off by her finger. She then clutched on her school skirt and had replayed that scene in her mind. Then, a knock came from the door. She looked up and saw Marco. "M-Marco-niisan…"

"Jeanne…" he walked in and sat by her side. Jeanne took her remaining courage and faced Marco with a smile. "W-What brings you here, Marco-niisan?"

"Jeanne… What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Jeanne was afraid that he would know something was wrong. She didn't want to worry him. And that was the last thing on her mind. "I… W-What do you mean, big brother?"

Marco really wasn't Jeanne's older brother. She was just picked up by Marco when she came strolling by his door on a stormy day. Returning back to her present situation, she saw Marco putting his arm on her shoulder. "Jeanne… I've known you since the day we met… And all my instincts say that you have a problem. What is it, Jeanne? You know you can rely on me."

Without warning, Marco saw Jeanne attacking him with a fast-made hug and hard crying. "Nii-san! Everything's so unfair!" Loudly and emotionally she shouted. Marco took a few seconds to realize what happened and he immediately placed his arms around her. "Shh… Shush my child. You're safe by my side… So please, tell me your worries."

"I… I… I miss Ren!" she blurted. Marco's eyes grew wide from shock then hugged her more tightly. 'Jeanne…'

* * *

Tee hee hee. I have no idea how Jeanne acts when she's depressed, do I improvised. Hope you liked it!  



	4. Strange Encounters

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: Sigh… I want to apologize to everyone for the pause of this story. To admit to everyone, this plot wasn't really plotted well. I just made it up as it went along… But after I received the last review (I won't mention who), I was kind of hurt. The reviewer honestly told me that he/she wanted to read the story. But since I didn't continue… He/She despised me. I don't want anyone to tell me something like that… So, I decided to continue this story 'till the end. So please, enjoy.

Saturday.

It was Saturday.

It was the last day for Ren to find himself a girlfriend.

Truthfully, it wasn't going to be hard… or it shouldn't be too hard to find one. After all, his big sister did announce it at school just right after school. And now, everyone was lined up just outside the Tao's big mansion.

Now, in a room, our hero is found lying on a bed with a large frown on his face and his eyes bulging as largely as they could. The noises that the girls made outside were too much for his precious ears… _Why? Why me!?_

A knock came from outside the door.

He sat up from his bed, shirtless might I add, and placed a hand on his aching head. But he wore black, leather pants (A/N: You guys wanted boxers, but I just couldn't allow it… Hehe).

"Ren… are you ready?" a brunette asked, smiling yet obviously worried. He heard a sigh on the bed. Ren Tao looked at Yoh with furrowed eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think… You're not ready but you just want it to be over," Yoh answered with a raise in one of his brows.

"Sometimes I wonder how you know me too well…"

"It's just instincts, my friend. Instincts."

Ren rolled his eyes and stood up from the bed. "I need a favor Yoh…"

Yoh raised a brow. "You do…?"

Ren nodded.

"What kind of favor, might I ask?"

Ren walked over to a chair and grabbed a white polo hanging on top of it and wore it on. "Maybe later… You could…" Ren took the tie on the chair and placed it around his neck.

"Could what?" Yoh asked, still anxious with his question.

Grabbing the socks inside his drawer, Ren wore them. After preparing himself, he walked over to Yoh and placed a hand on his shoulder. Yoh looked at Ren's eyes and Ren looked at Yoh's. Both had a serious, but a comforting look at each other.

Ren opened his mouth and told him, "Maybe you could lend me some instincts in choosing a girl, couldn't you?"

Yoh smiled and answered, "Sure, why not?"

Then, they exited the room with a bit of reassurance in both of their hearts.

- - - - -

"Jun-chan," a tall, green-haired lady called.

Jun turned around and smiled. "Mother-dearest! So nice of you to come to one of my rare events!"

The woman giggled and placed a hand on her mouth. Although her hand wasn't revealed much because of the kimono that she was wearing. "Rare events? When did you start hosting such 'rare' events, dear?"

Jun grinned and explained, "Have you already forgotten about the 'Ren Tao 6th Birthday Bash' that I hosted? My, it was quite unforgettable!"

Her mother raised a brow with a mischievous smile.

"Aah… So it's 'those' events…"

Jun smiled the same way her mother smiled and nodded.

"Yes, mother. 'Those' events. I hope you still remember what happens after the event, mother-dear," Jun answered in a dark voice.

The woman turned around and said, "Of course I do… After all, I did teach you these things."

And with those words, her mother walked away.

Jun smiled normally this time and turned around to heave a sigh.

_I just hope I don't mess up again!_

- - - - -

"M-Misato-chan!"

"Jeanne, hurry up! I want to register now so that we won't be the last ones to audition!"

Outside of the Tao mansion, hundreds, no, _thousands _of girls were already registering, signing up applications and kept on shouting Ren's name. Some of the girls came from different schools, even countries. But most of them were from Ren's school.

Maiden Jeanne kept on glancing to her right and left.

_There are so many people…_

Jeanne's eyes widened when she noticed that Misato was no longer by her side.

"MISATO-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU!?" she shouted. But her voice was no challenge to the voices of the girls who kept on chorusing for Ren's name.

Jeanne decided to find the registration area. _Where is it?_

She bumped to every girl that was in front of her. She kept on pushing them aside, although she knew that it was rude of her to do that. But to stay here and watch Ren choose a girlfriend was much worse.

"MISATO-CHAN!"

"Jeanne! Over here!" a voice called to her.

Jeanne looked over to where she heard the voice and saw a blonde girl. She wasn't Misato, nor was she anyone that Jeanne knew. But she decided to follow the girl.

She kept on pushing the girls aside, just to escape from the crowd.

When she was finally by the side of the blonde, she was surprised to see that she _was_ someone that she knew! She grinned widely.

"I'm so happy to see you here!"

"Same here," the blonde said.

Both hugged each other.

"Come on Jeanne, let's go to a safer place…"

"But… Misato-chan…." Jeanne said worriedly.

"Don't worry," the blonde reassured her, "She already got an application form and filled it already. By the time we escape from this crowd, she'll already be auditioning."

"I…" Jeanne still hesitated.

The blonde said, "Don't worry. Trust me, okay?"

With that, they escaped from the crowd.

Note: Ouch… My back hurts! Hope you guys will appreciate this!


	5. Alternative

I Understand

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: P aw. Thank God I'm motivated to do this today. Haha! I just thought that finishing my fics would help me make new ones. I hope I can finish this soon. Wish me luck everyone! –grins-

"Gah… I give up, Yoh," Ren sighed in defeat. Yoh quickly stood up from his seat and panicked. "What!? You're saying that now, after we've rejected every –almost- single girl that auditioned here? Don't joke around!"

"Then tell me," Ren said with a serious tone. "Do you love Anna?"

Yoh's eyes widened. _What the…?_

"Well, do you?" he asked once more.

Yoh was hesitant to answer him frankly but he didn't deny his feelings. So he answered him, "Yeah. I do love her."

"Are you just saying that because you _need_ to or is it because you _want _to?" Ren asked in a cold voice. Yoh's eyes flared up in anger. He grabbed Ren's shirt collar and tugged it tight. He glared at the boy's golden eyes. "H-How you could you say such things!? Of course it's because I want to!"

"Then… w-why a-am I forcing m-myself into liking s-someone?" Ren asked as he choked in Yoh's hands. Thriftily, Yoh's hold on his collar loosened. "S-Sorry…" he whispered.

Ren rubbed his sore neck while continuing, "I'm really stupid for accepting that challenge. I should've known that messing with emotions would be wrong." Yoh kept silent.

"If that's what you feel, why not quit now?" a voice echoed in the solid room.

"That voice…" Yoh murmured. He turned around with Ren's eyes following.

"Why not quit now, as you have mentioned earlier," Anna said with a blank expression. Ren didn't know why but he was pissed at how she said those words at him. He stood up from his seat with an angered face and yelled back, "Who gave you the right to boss me around!?"

Anna glared at him. He winced a bit. "_Never mind…_" he said in a monotonous voice.

"Do you really want to accept defeat now, Tao Ren?" Anna asked in a superior tone. Ren frowned and didn't want to admit it but – she was right. He shook his head, signaling a 'no'.

Anna smirked.

"Very well. I shall give you two choices; one – continue this worthless audition," she paused. Yoh and Ren twitched a brow. _If you call this worthless then what were our efforts for!?_

"Or two, use an alternative."

Before the two boys could have spoken, a girl hidden in the shadows stepped forward. Her long silky white-grey hair flowed from behind and her white dress looked absolutely divine. Ren's eyes grew wide in shock. His cheeks were filled with his red, flowing blood. _It can't be… her…?_

"Let me introduce to you once more, Ren. This is…"

"Maiden Jeanne. Pleased to make your acquaintance… again," the girl said with a slight bow.

Yoh didn't know what to say or do. But his mouth was wide open. Feeling an eerie vibe coming from Anna, he turned to look at Ren but to his own shock, Ren was on the floor, quite stunned.

"Ren!?" Yoh screamed.

--

Yellow gold eyes met with ruby red ones.

Already conscious to whose eyes it was, Ren sat up from his bed with his heart pounding like crazy. The girl in front of him, whom he should know by name now, smiled at him. "Welcome back, Ren," she greeted with a silent grin.

Ren didn't know what to say or how to react. He just wanted to act normally as possible. He cleared his throat. "So… um…" he said while blushing, "Mm…"

Jeanne smiled. _Same old Ren…_

"Ren-kun," she started. Ren turned his head to look at her. She smiled. "Will you take me as your 'alternative'?" Ren's eyes grew wide. This was quite… embarrassing. Even for him.

"_Yes_, Ren. _Will_ you take her as an alternative? It _is_ eight in the evening… I wonder where you will look for a girlfriend at this hour… Especially now when you have no more time, dear brother…"

A familiar green-haired woman appeared out of nowhere. Ren glared.

He snarled at her, "I already approved of her as my girlfriend long before you came here!"

The three's eyes just grew wide in astonishment. Jun only smirked. "If that is so, then let the bet begin!" With those words, Jun closed the door behind her.

Ren and Jeanne were the only ones left in the room.

They could feel a weird aura around them. Ren blushed red. "Um…"

"D-Did you really mean it, Ren?" Jeanne asked out of the blue. Ren looked at her. Her head was down, staring at her nervous hands that seemed to keep on moving. "D-Did you really…"

"Tomorrow."

Jeanne raised her head up. She looked at him and she blushed. He had those sincere golden eyes on him… the ones that she used to fall in love. He had that tender smile… which made her heart skip a beat. He seemed so perfect.

"Lets go on a date tomorrow," he said.


	6. Preparations

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: Okay, I want to ExorcistAlchemistWizamfreakfan thank for the fave on the story and for giving me the guts to finish this darn thing as soon as possible. I noticed I got tons of stuff I'd left for sometime now… So, better to be done than not doing anything at all… Enjoy!

It was going to be hard for Jeanne.

"A date…" she whispered to herself. Her face had gone red and hot due to those words. She really didn't expect anything at first. Meeting Ren again was also out of her mind. But in the end, everything started to fall into place. She was afraid. Was this just a dream? A dream that she'll easily wake up from and maybe as time would pass, be forgotten?

She sighed heavily. She furrowed her brows. Her heavy sighs were one of the things she despised. It made her feel groggy and uncomfortable.

A knock came from the door with a followed question, "Are you done in there, Jeanne? It's almost 8! You don't want Ren waiting long, do you?"

With that, Jeanne hurriedly snapped back to reality and replied, "Ah… N-No! Not at all! But… I still haven't chosen what to wear…"

The door opened and Jeanne was greeted with a smiling sigh. "I guess it can't be helped."

Jeanne looked at her with a wide gaze. "Misato-chan…" Jeanne remembered that Misato had a crush on Ren… Although both of them were aware of it, it had seemed that Misato was only now supporting Jeanne. Jeanne knew acting like that would be unfair to her. She knew it from the bottom of her heart. But she also felt that she needed to be with Ren.

Misato smiled with a little worry in her eyes. "Jeanne… I… Look. I did say that I liked him… But since he chose you, over the millions of girls, including me, I'm happy for it. You are my best friend, after all!" Misato breathed in deep and continued, "So! My admiration for him is over and… no hard feelings over here… How about you?"

Finally, Misato smiled at her and waited for a reply.

No words could be found to explain Jeanne's emotion. She was confused, happy, sad, and guilty and excited, all at the same time. Without realizing it, Jeanne jumped on Misato and both of them landed on her bed.

"I'm really sorry, Misa-chan!" Jeanne shouted with hiccups of tears.

"Now, now! I told you! No hard feelings," Misato said as she patted Jeanne's head, "Now, come on! We still have to find you something to wear! It should be special too! Since… this is Anne-chan's first date."

Jeanne looked at her friend with her mouth partially open.

"How did you…"

"I'm your best friend, what do you expect?" Misato said with a raised brow.

Jeanne giggled. "That's Misa-chan for you!"

"Now, let's…" Misato started but was unexpectedly interrupted by Jeanne.

"But," Jeanne said with a serious look on her face, "Let's keep this between us, Misa-chan. Marco-nii doesn't need to know of this."

- - -

"Uh… Ren?" Yoh started.

"What?" Ren asked with a glare.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yoh asked with a mild tone of anger and confusion, fused in one.

Ren was wearing a black tux with matching leather shoes and even a bouquet of flowers at hand. Yoh's sweat dropped and his crossed arms were almost ready to open and hit Ren on the noggin.

"Er, I think I'm going on a date."

"Wearing that?" Yoh asked, a little irritated now.

"Yes."

"What the hell do you think this is!? A marriage proposal? You're going on a frickin' date, for Pete's sake! Can't you wear anything more… decent? God, Ren! You guys are like, 15! What kind of teenager would wear something like a tux on a teen's date?" Yoh shouted with anger. Ren winced a bit.

"Er…" Ren started.

"WHAT?" Yoh shouted for the last time as his breathe was running out from the previous lecture. His eyes were widely glued on Ren's.

"Spit… You're throwing spit on me," Ren said with a obvious eyes.

- - -

"Will you be fine from here, dear?" Misato asked her friend.

Jeanne smiled at her and nodded. "Thanks tons, Misa-chan! I owe you a lot! I mean it!"

Misato smiled and said, "You owe me nothing at all! Now, it's almost time. Text me after the date and tell me the details. Leave NOTHING behind!"

With that, Misato and Jeanne had their last hug for the day and Misato when running off to God knows where.

Jeanne was finally at their meeting place. No signs of Ren yet. She searched her surroundings and found a bench. She sat there for awhile and kept thinking what kind of date they would have. Last night's proposal was quite… a shock. She couldn't even believe herself when she asked Ren if he would accept her as an alternative.

"Um… Er…" someone murmured next to her.

Jeanne lifted her eyes to see Ren. Her eyes grew wide and her face went red hot. 'Ren…'

"Uh, hi…" Ren greeted as he scratched the back of his head with a little blush on his face. He also averted her gaze, seeing how cute she was just awhile ago. Wearing a white spaghetti strap with a matching white mini skirt and belt, finishing it off with white boots, she looked like an angel… well, to him at least.

"So… should we… go?" He asked her, still avoiding her gaze.

Jeanne snapped back to herself and hurriedly stood up. She nodded and replied, "Ah! Y-Yes!"

Ren was wearing a fitting white shirt, layered in by a black jacket with blue skinny jeans and black rubber shoes. He looked cool… to Jeanne, that is.

Then, out of the blue, Ren offered out his left hand, still avoiding a gaze at Jeanne or anywhere that was on his left side. Jeanne was flustering red. She immediately took the offer and held his hand.

This date, how could it end, she asked herself.

YEY! Finally got a chapter done! WHEW!


	7. Shin Kodou

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: There's an additional OC and not real! If you're wondering what the name is, it's Shin Kodou. If there are any names the same – dead or alive, true or not – everything in my fiction stories (all of them too) are made up with made up characters. Thus, FAN FICTION.  


* * *

Jeanne held on to her ice cream cone a little tightly. She and Ren were sitting face to face to each other on a table, just outside the territory of the ice cream parlor with Ren still avoiding her gaze. She blushed red just thinking of their date together. Has it really started, she kept asking herself.

After Ren suddenly offered his hand to her, Ren didn't expect what they would do next. He never had touched a girl anywhere. Not even her sister! Well, especially not her sister… Why? Well… he's her sister! Even though Ren and his sister are obviously related, they never did have a heart-to-heart relationship with each other. It was always dares, blackmails, threats and bets with the two of them - thus, Ren's life now in the present.

Minutes have passed yet the two hadn't spoken a single word. They'd give glances to each other now and then but would immediately turn away as the other would detect their eyes. It had been going on and on until both of their ice creams and cones were gone.

"Uh…" Ren started with a little lump in his throat. Jeanne looked at him with a red face. He was still avoiding her eyes. "L-Let's go watch a movie… Um… W-What do you say?"

Jeanne only nodded and smiled. "S-Sure…"

- - -

The walk to the theater was still silent. No one tried or even dared to utter a word to the other.

Ren was insecure himself. He didn't know why he couldn't talk to her. 'She's just here to help me win my sister's bet right?' he kept asking himself. It was true right? After all, this date isn't real too! After today… they would be 'girlfriend and boyfriend' all right… but on a condition of a bet. Nothing more than that… right?

Jeanne on the other hand, tried to keep herself busy from thinking of their totally awkward date. 'How did this end up like this anyway?' she asked herself. The starting of the date was great! She admitted. But then… what happened after that? Had Ren already got tired of being with her? After all, she is just an 'alternative' that someone brought up from somewhere. In the first place, she wasn't even supposed to be with him. It was all Misato. Misato invited her to that audition thing… So, why was she there?

Both sighed at the same time then got alerted as they heard the other's sigh.

Suddenly, Jeanne burst out in a soft laugh and smiles. "Haha… Well… Erm… Heh…"

She then turned red. What the heck was she doing? Laughing and smiling all of a sudden? Wasn't the mood before… just… well, awkward?

"I…" Ren started. Jeanne looked at him. He just looked straight. They suddenly paused from their walking. "We're here."

Jeanne's ecstatic eyes lowered in gloom. "Oh…"

Ren walked away from her side and ordered out tickets. Jeanne just looked at him move away. Was he really getting tired of her? Was she really that boring that he couldn't even talk about anything with her? She was afraid.

Ren returned and handed her a ticket.

"I hope 'Blue Moons' is alright with you… since there aren't any other movies available now…" Ren said in a low, shy voice. Jeanne, with furrowed eyebrows and a pretentious smile, replied, "N-No problem at all… Shall we go in?"

Ren nodded and escorted her by walking by her side in to the theater.

It was no problem at all… The movie was no problem. But it had seemed something didn't satisfy her. And that was a big problem for her. It made her more afraid of what more may come of that date.

- - -

Once Ren and Jeanne had found two available seats, they settled down with large popcorn and two medium sodas on their hands. Jeanne, although a bit saddened by something she didn't know, was still a little heated up since she was still with Ren, on a date no less. She should at least feel enthusiastic, right? After all, this is Ren Tao she was with! But… her heart seemed to ache with those thoughts.

"Shin Kodou," Ren whispered out of nowhere. Jeanne looked at him. He was staring straight at the screen. The movie was starting. Jeanne looked at the screen. There it was. 'Shin Kodou'. "He started out as a simple writer, don't you know?" She returned her gaze to him.

"After he had done a few scripts for some random directors, he was asked out to be an actor on one of his written movies. He hesitated at first but eventually pushed himself to give it a try. After all, he had nothing to lose, so, he started out on his first film, 'Tears of the Sky' and had over 50 million original copies of the movie sold. He was a famous actor then… But after his fame, his acting skills eventually dwindled down and his movies were sold less and less. No one knew the cause. In between everything, he kept on writing. His books had sold more than his movies."

Jeanne only had a questioning look on her face. Why did he stop? Why did he tell her this anyway? After asking those things to herself, she looked around the cinema and found only a little amount of people in it.

'_His movies were sold less and less…'_

The words echoed in her head. This must be the reason why the cinema had little only a few viewers here, she concluded to herself.

Then the movie started.

- - -

After the movie ended, the sun was ready to set. Jeanne and Ren were outside the theater, unsure of what they should do next. When…

"H-Hey, if it's alright with you… I'd like to treat you on dinner," Ren said as he looked to his left and Jeanne looking straight at him. He was red on the face due to the unintended proposal. Jeanne was still a little depressed. "N-No thank you, Ren… I'm… not feeling well."

Ren snapped out of his shy world and immediately asked her, face to face, "Why? Is there something wrong? I mean, did I do something wrong?"

Jeanne's eyes opened widely.

He finally looked at her! He finally looked at her! Overflowing with that happiness, Jeanne reached out her hand to touch his cheek, in gratitude. She was already centimeters away from his face when it finally hit her – what was she doing? Suddenly trying to touch him that quickly? She quickly pulled her hand back and turned her back on him.

"I… No, Ren shouldn't be apologizing," Jeanne said in a whisper, "Actually, I should be the one sorry. If I had done anything to displease Ren or anything to bore him, I'm sorry and please let me know." She turned to face him again with furrowed brows.

"No, no… Actually, I should be thankful to you… for… hanging out with me. This may surprise you but no girl has ever been by my side. Well, aside from my sister and female relatives of course…" Ren shared with a pleasing smile. Jeanne was overwhelmed. "So, still up for the dinner I offered?" Ren reached his hand out, waiting for her to reply.

She smiled. "After everything today, I think I can still handle a little dinner." She took his hand and they exited the cinema with a smile.

* * *

Note: Summer's here! I can finally finish this story around this summer! Need your suggestions on what would happen next! Thanks!


	8. Reminisce

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

Note: Very late update, I know. Good thing we had no class today since there's a strike! (: JewelledTears' idea also included!

Maiden Jeanne had already been tuck in her bed by Marco. He knew nothing of her date but was just informed that she had a study group to attend to. He also called Misato earlier to check on Jeanne and Misato only excused Jeanne from the phone saying that she was in the bathroom or napping. But he believed her. Jeanne was relieved of this.

"How was your study session today, Jeanne? I never got to ask since you were so busy, Misato told me," Marco asked as he sat by her bed. Jeanne pulled her blanket up to her chin and smiled at him. "It was… fruitful."

Marco smiled. "I knew I could trust on my little princess."

Jeanne's smile wavered. 'Don't say that you trust me that much, onii-san…'

Jeanne decided to hurry him up as she knew that her date earlier was so surreal that she wanted to at least let it float in her mind once more. "Good night, Marco-nii." She sat up and kissed his cheek. Marco only smiled as he watched her lie down once more as she pulled the blanket up to her mouth. He patted her head and stood up, walking towards the door. He switched off the lights and closed the door behind him.

The girl's closed eyes slowly opened. She couldn't sleep at all… This was new.

She smiled suddenly when she remembered the dinner that she and Ren shared earlier. He took her to a fancy restaurant that had recently opened. The entrance to the restaurant itself astonished her as she saw the very expensive limousines parked up on its front. The inside was even greater since there were chandeliers hung up on each table that was available. And in the middle was the largest chandelier with the most beautiful spark on its diamonds she had ever seen. Under it was the bar and the kitchen itself.

It awed her so much.

She even told Ren that she'd rather eat somewhere else. But thanks to his persistence, she had stayed and enjoyed the marvelous cuisine he had ordered for them both.

Everything that happened that day, she remembered well. From the first time their eyes met, up to the kiss they had shared due to the little accident. She blushed hard. Her face was as red as Santa Claus'.

It had happened during dinner. Ren had ordered out everything (well, almost everything) up from the appetizers down to the desserts. Everything was fine until the waiter had informed them that there was only one more plate of Western spaghetti left. Having no choice left, Ren and Jeanne decided to share.

When their orders finally arrived, they started to dig in their meal.

Jeanne started to touch the club sandwich that were prepared first and ate them. Although it wasn't her first time to taste a club sandwich, it was her first time tasting one from a really expensive restaurant. 'So this is what pros make…' she thought. The taste was so alluring to her that she finished the plate before Ren could have any. She apologized over and over again until she finally got tired.

After their desserts, they dug on the main dishes. Jeanne took a bit on the pork cutlets and immediately fell in love just like on the club sandwiches. She took a plate full and totally ate it whole. After licking her mouth clean, she noticed that Ren was staring at her in awe… or was it in fright? She felt really embarrassed and apologized once again. This made her blush more than before.

Ah! What a night it was, really! Jeanne continued on her memory of that day… But the one memory that she wished would stay with her forever was the kiss.

The spaghetti they had ordered just arrived and Jeanne was already ecstatic to taste it. But this time, she had whispered over and over in her head to not get so carried away. She took the fork on her plate and twirled it on the spaghetti. She pulled the fork up and placed it in her mouth. "Mmhm! This taste good!" she exclaimed. Ren smiled at her and replied, "I'm glad you're enjoying your meal tonight."

Jeanne couldn't help but blush. She gulped down the spaghetti in her mouth and damped her mouth with the napkin on the table. After that, she decided to eat no more. She was afraid that he would start thinking of her being so unladylike… But the spaghetti was really tasty… Even tastier than the club sandwiches and pork cutlets, she thought. So she decided to take at least two more bites.

She took her fork again and did the procedures from earlier. She chewed the spaghetti slowly, savoring its taste. When she finally swallowed, she frowned as she knew she only had one more chance left. She dipped her fork on the plate and twirled it around. This time, the spaghetti had a long strand that was left on the plate. Finally, Ren moved his fork and joined in with Jeanne.

"Wow! You're right! This spaghetti is really good!" Ren smiled at her as he tasted it. He took another forkful of spaghetti and chomped it down. Jeanne blushed at how cute Ren looked eating the plate. 'He must be doing this to ease my bitter thoughts…' she smiled, 'thank you, Ren-kun.'

She ate again as her conscience of guilt was erased by the charming man in front of her. This time, they did it together. She ate it and didn't matter that there were still strands left in the spaghetti. She pulled the strands in her mouth while savoring every taste of sweetness it gave out. Ren did the same. Then they both closed their eyes, imagining that the strands would continue on and on…

Then she felt something that contrasted with her lips. She opened her eyes and saw a blushing red Ren just in front of her, lips against his. Jeanne chopped the strand of spaghetti that was hanging between them and pulled back. "S-Sorry, Ren-kun!" she exclaimed. She hid her face and shut her eyes tightly.

Jeanne couldn't bear the humiliation. She wanted to leave. Right now in her bed, she wondered what would've happened if she did leave… if Ren didn't say anything at all?

"That felt… nice," Ren whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. She opened her eyes and saw that he shied his face away too. 'Ren-kun…' she smiled to herself. He really was cute, she thought. So she smiled proudly and replied, "Thank you for the dinner, Ren-kun!"

And after that, magical, just magical! The best day of her life!

Jeanne was finally able to sleep thanks to that memory. It was a daydream she hoped would repeat even just once more. So she slept, hoping it would. She was dreaming of Ren.


	9. A Friend Indeed

I Understand

By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.

A/N: Damn. It's been how many years and this story is still in its 9th chapter. How long have I been so inactive? And there are people who like this so much. Am I that bad of a writer? Well, I hope you enjoy this update although I'm starting to lose track of where I was. I'm making all these up as I go now.

---

Sunday.

Finally, a day to himself, Tao Ren thought. A day without school, Asakura Yoh or even his own devilish sister Jun to bug his thoughts, since all he could think about was the girl that made him feel weird things for the first time – Maiden Jeanne.

He couldn't deny it to himself. He had fun yesterday. With a girl. And it was a first.

Ever since he could remember, he hated girls with all his guts. Maybe it was thanks to his sister why he hated girls. And maybe with a little help from his mom too. He could still remember how back when he was just a few years old his mother and sister dressed him up once in girly clothing and presented him to the whole clan. How could he have possibly remembered those wee years, you ask? Well, there was too much laughter happening and it made him pee on the dress he was wearing. He was scarred forever.

He shivered.

He didn't want to be reminded of it anymore so instead, he placed in his thoughts to where he was right now. That's right. He was in his room, his place of solitude. He was sitting on a wooden chair just inches away from his king-sized bed. His room was dark since he didn't like the light very much, thus very thick curtains distanced him from the outside world. It was as if he lived his life like a vampire. He also didn't like modern technology very much and so the lack of 'fun' in his life. He had no TV, computer or even an MP3 in his room. He was darn old fashioned and liked it that way.

After getting back to reality, he got bored. But he wouldn't dare find amusement in calling Asakura Yoh. Sure, he _admired_ the boy but he didn't _like_ him. Sure, he was a friend. But, that was all right? And besides, his ice queen of a fiancée must be giving him love right now – tough love.

He sighed and once more remembered the girl that had made him smile yesterday.

She was different from any other girl, he thought, but shrugged the thought since he knew he didn't know her much. He could clearly remember the first day he had met her at the park. She was so silent and peaceful, radiant and glowing. When she spoke to him, it was like the piercing light he hated was shining down on him but it was warm and kind. But what he couldn't forget was what she had told him, "I know you."

Suddenly, he looked at every corner of his dark room. Did someone say something? Those words echoed.

_I know you. I know you._

No, there was no one there; only the darkness and himself. He knew no one was there. He already knew it was all in his head at that very instant. Those words had already haunted him since they had met.

What did she mean by those words – _I know you_?

Did she lie to him when she said those words to him, just making an excuse so that she could talk to him? Well, that would've been reasonable but also just cruel. Or did she really mean it? Did she know him from long ago? Or is she just a stalker after all? He sighed. He was starting to doubt her. His respect and admiration for her was starting to falter. He shook off the idea. He didn't want to doubt her.

He dug deep inside his thoughts.

Has he seen her before? Did they have lessons that included physical training together? His mind was about to burst. If he couldn't remember, it would kill him, he thought.

She was a mystery he wanted to solve.

Ren always believed he was the type that could know a person with a single glance. Just like the first time he had met Yoh, he had thought that he was a weakling that was too aloof to notice the things around him. Although that was true, Ren never imagined he was also strong.

He remembered back when he and Yoh we classmates during freshman year. The two of them, Anna and the others were all in the same class. And he remembered the one incident that made Yoh a bit respectable in his point of view.

Anna was seated next to this certain guy in one quarter during their first year. Some of them weren't quite oblivious that this guy had a thing for her. He flirted with her. But Anna didn't give a damn. He wouldn't back off so easily. And at that time, no one knew Yoh's relationship with Anna. So, time passed and the brunette couldn't take it anymore. It was during homeroom when it happened. The guy was once again making a move at the ice queen. Surprisingly enough, she was entertaining him. She must've been bored if she even tried to please him. Their faces were just a fair distance apart from each other. Yoh snapped.

"_Oi."_

_Everyone turned their attention to the brunette that was seated at the far back of the class. The teacher, who was talking in front of the class, also paused at the commanding voice of the boy. Anna and her seatmate also halted their conversation. Their teacher was about to ask what the boy wanted, calling the attention of all but was suddenly stopped as he stood up from his seat, forcing the table and chair back with his hand and foot. His long bangs covered his eyes that everyone guessed was firing up with anger due to the tone he had given out a few seconds ago. Everyone was a bit shaken up._

"_*****!" he yelled out. (A/N: The asterisks indicated the unknown boy's name. :D)_

_Everyone shifted their eyes from the angry boy to the one who didn't seem to know what was happening and as to why he was the one that Yoh called. He was confused, scared and most of all fearful. His heart was thumping hard and harder as he saw the angry boy approaching him. Then everyone took a quick glance at the one who was supposed to be responsible in the class only to find out he was hiding under the table._

_The boy was trembling in fear as Yoh was getting closer._

_Then, a tall male with white long hair stood up from his seat and stood behind Yoh. "Yoh, what do you intend on doing?" he asked although not quite sure as to stop him or not._

"_Just watch," Yoh whispered._

_The tall male nodded, trusting him, and went back to his seat. Some were a bit surprised and some just didn't care as to what he did – he let Yoh make his move._

"_Eeeeh?" a girl in the class whispered to another, loud enough for some to hear, "What just happened? Did Amidamaru-kun get scared as well?"_

_The latter shook her head and replied, "I don't know but it seems that Yoh has something up in his mind."_

_Ren was intrigued. A few moments ago, his dull and boring life was killing him to boredom until this happens. He looked over his shoulder and watched the show go on. ***** was shaking from head to toe and Yoh was confidently walking up to him. Who would've thought that the quiet weakling could have so much energy?_

_Then the moment of truth had arrived. Yoh was inches away from ***** and Anna's eyes were unchanging to the ones who did not observe but to some, they saw her eyes were curious to the events. But she did not budge or move unnecessarily._

"_*****-kun," Yoh's voice, strong and angry, echoed in the room. "I've had enough of you."_

_Everyone was now in awe._

"_You've been sucking your ass up to Anna like you're her boyfriend or something which by the way you f*ckin' aren't!" Yoh's stature had become like that of a Yakuza's but with much more poise. "Now, could you f*ck off my fiancée?"_

_Everyone but Amidamaru and the cool guy Ren gasped and roared in shock. While everyone was in that state, Yoh had somehow returned to his original aloof features and in a polite tone said, "Please cover up your zipper now." Yoh pointed to the zipper which was located at the front of the boy's school pants. Everyone's shock had changed to amazement which was followed after by laughter. Not only did they see white undies, they saw a dark, wet, circular portion on those undies._

_Everyone cheered for Yoh and made fun of the boy who peed on his pants._

_Yoh was contented with what he had done and was about to return to his seat when Anna had stood up from her seat and approached him. _

"_Oi, baka."_

_He turned to face her and goofily smiled with his brows raising. "Hey Anna!"_

_Some who didn't keep their attention to the embarrassed boy kept their eyes on the two. They were excited to know what would happen next. Some fantasized while some just kept their attention._

_Suddenly, Anna grabbed Yoh's bangs, making him wince in pain. Everyone got surprised until Anna had pulled his face closer to hers. They were making out. Everyone cheered and howled for the unsuspected events. ***** ran out the room, crying and waving his hands like a bird. No one minded anymore as their attention was on the two. The teacher, who shortly after saw the couple kiss, had fainted and lied on the floor deep in sleep._

_After the second of their kiss, Yoh had fallen on the floor, fainting in happiness. Anna quietly smiled at the back of her head and then remembered the commotion they had caused. "Everyone."_

_Her dark and ominous voice had, in an instant, made the cheers and howls put to a stop. They gulped. She faced them all with an uncaring feature and announced, "That's right. We're engaged. I don't give a damn if you go f*ckin' around and spread it but if I hear another thing about what happened today, I'll make sure your graves are dug up as early as possible."_

_Everyone nodded and gulped in agreement, afraid._

Ren could still remember that day clearly, as to how someone like that doof Asakura could put such impact in just a second. He was really admirable. What he did, standing up for Anna, made the boy wonder if he could do something like that someday – stand up for the person he would love.

But he shook the idea at once when he had put the word 'love' in his mind.

He was a fool. He knew he couldn't love someone. Because he knew that no one would love him back. And as for now, not even Maiden Jeanne was to love him, he thought…

… But for that second, he wanted her to.

He wanted her to love him, even if what he was asking for was selfishly impossible.

Ren felt the loneliness once more. He was afraid of it. His mind was working him up, making him sweat. The loneliness that swallowed him whole for the past years in his life, the feeling of it that made you fear without even knowing what to fear of – he needed a companion.

Impulsively, he jumped out of his chair and hurriedly ran out his bedroom door. And in front of him, surprisingly, was the doofy person he had expected least to be there at that very moment. His eyes were surprised, just like his, and his hand was curved, positioned as if he was about to knock on the door.

"Y-Yoh?"

"Ah! Hi Ren!" Yoh smiled widely. Ren raised a brow and asked as to why he was present at the foot of his door. Yoh scratched the back of his head and smiled, saying, "I kinda wanted to spend time with my friend, that's all."

Ren raised his brow and frowned. "Did you escape Anna again?"

Yoh's brows curled up and his smile showed weakness. "Please understand."

Ren just sighed. But at the same time, he was still surprised. At that moment, if Yoh wasn't there, did he also plan on seeing him or call him? Surely, thinking about what had happened in the past wasn't coincidental. He was thinking of the confident Yoh.

"Hey Yoh," Ren whispered. Yoh's eyes smiled at him. And Ren continued, "Let's hang out for today."

Yoh was a bit surprised but didn't want to ask. "Sure."

-

Outside Ren's House

"Were you jacking off or something?" Yoh asked, curious.

Ren stopped his tracks and looked at Yoh with bulging eyes. "WHAT?"

"W-Well, I was passing by and saw your room covered by the curtains. And well, I got curious. And I thought, Ren's a really mysterious guy and maybe he'd be doing those kinds of things. And so well, I decided to check up on you. So I let myself in your house and went up to your room. But then you got to me. Then I saw you sweating so I reeeally thought you were doing it. Those things aren't healthy, you know, so I decided to take you out and-" Yoh was stopped as he saw Ren's hands clutched, shaking in anger.

"Uh…" Yoh sweated, scared, "Anna's probably looking for me so I better run back now."

"Run."

"Eh?" Yoh asked, really scared now.

"I said, RUN."

"Forgive meeeeeeee Ren!" And Yoh ran as fast as he could away from the person who he was supposedly supposed to aid in help.


	10. Frenzy

A/N: So I received a PM from megamantai-san asking me not to stop writing this fic. To tell the truth, I planned stopping a long time ago since it's been years since I last updated and I guessed nobody read this anymore; but I got to realizing I never finish any long-time fics. The commitment isn't there for me, but I guess I owe it all to my readers to at least finish. So, let's hope for the best that this fic will be the first one I actually finish (P.S., my writing style might have changed so please bear with me).

And also, I reread the whole story and got my chapters mixed up. If you noticed, while reading, the chapter where I wrote 'Friday', 'Saturday' and 'Sunday', there's an interval where the Ren and Jeanne had their date – so never mind that, please! Now on to our story~ Did I mention this story includes cursing?

* * *

Ren's eyes trail signs of movement outside the windows of the car he is currently riding on, on the route to his school. He sighs at the day that's in store for him. Surely, nothing has changed. He's still Ren, fifteen and bored. Blame it on yesterday, he argues, since it was Yoh who got him so frustrated and irritated. Really, accusing him of touching himself... Maybe he should raise those curtains of his?

The car suddenly comes to a halt and Ren finally realizes that he has arrived. The driver runs out of the car and opens Ren's door for him. Ren steps off the vehicle and gives the building in front of him a long, bleak frown. He walks toward the gates with his bag on hand and the door of the closing from behind him.

It might finally be a quiet day, Ren smiles in his thoughts, seeing that nobody has probably realized his arrival. That is, until a shriek comes just a few meters in front of him. He looks up to find a familiar blue-haired girl. His brows furrow upon locating her and he places on the best disgusted face for her to see.

"Pilika."

When her name escapes his lips, the girl runs towards him and smiles widely.

"It's the talk of the school, Ren!" she squeals at him.

"Aaaah!" he screams at her, "Tone it down, will you? Don't you know that your voice is really irritating and pitchy?"

"Well, excuse me!" she pouts at him, "Just because you have a girl friend doesn't mean you get to badmouth me!"

Girl friend?

Ah! Girl friend! She means Maiden Jeanne!

Wait. What! Everyone knows!?

"How'd you-!"

"You don't really expect anyone to not know after that big fuss at your house, do you?" she retorts at him, uniquely surprised at his slow way of thinking.

Ren tries to massage his tense muscles on his forehead and breathes in heavily. "Look, Pilika, let's just not talk about it, okay? Since you know about it, let's just keep it at that."

"Oh no, no, Ren-kun," Pilika says playfully, "It's not just me. The whole school knows."

Pilika hands him a piece of newspaper and shows him the front page with the huge heading "Ren – Single No More!" highlighting the whole page. Ren's eyes grow wide in shock as his hands grab a tight hold on the paper. Three things came rushing in his mind: First, what the hell!? Second, who the fuck wrote this!? And lastly...

"Kyouyamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

And with that, the boy rushes off to who knows where, leaving Pilika a bit confused as how to react to Ren's reaction.

* * *

Eyes turn to a panting Tao Ren as he had just previously slammed the door of their classroom wide open with a loud bang. His furious beast eyes scan the room to look for Anna. When he spots her, he stomps his way to her desk and slams the newspaper down on her table. Anna, who was just calmly staring outside of the window, turns to see the Chinese boy red in the face. She looks down to the material on her table and smiles at him.

"Something the matter, Tao?" she says in obviously a mocking tone.

"What's this about?" he snarls.

"Simply just what you see."

"Which is?"

Anna frowns at him, now quite bored with his responses. "Seriously, can't you even read the damn thing?"

"What the hell are you doing, barging into my private life, Kyouyama!?" Ren flares up.

"Hey!" Anna answers back, standing up to him, "If I recall, wasn't I the one who helped you get out of that stupid mess you put yourself in? Now you're yelling at me?"

Ren cringes slightly at this. True, she was the one who presented Jeanne to him; releasing him from the stress of that stupid 'audition' they had just three days ago. He tones his voice and anger down now and just says, "But still... you shouldn't have..."

Ren sighs in defeat.

Whatever.

The thing must have been spread all over the school now.

Ren slowly and tiredly walks over to his own seat and slinks himself in a sleeping position.

'I just hope there isn't going to be a frenzy happening.'

* * *

"Marco-nii, just stop here," Jeanne says happily while pointing to a portion of the street just near the school. Marco Lasso does as told and finally halts the car. He looks over to his adopted sister and smiles at her. "Have fun at school, okay?"

Jeanne nods at him, exiting the car. She waves him goodbye and he drives off. Jeanne takes a big breath and starts to walk to the school gates. While doing so, she notices a gang of girls standing near the gates. And as she passes them by, one of the girls yells, "There she is!"

Then suddenly, the group huddles her with faces as sour as their attitudes.

"So you're the one 'dating' Ren-kun!" one accuses.

"What? She doesn't look all that good!" one with heavy make-up adds.

"I bet she took off her clothes during the auditions!" another says.

Every one of the girls starts to accuse Jeanne of the many things she didn't do. Her mind goes dizzy at the many accusations that she starts to cover her ears from all the noise. She slinks down to her knees, quite terrified of what more they could do to her; then, she notices a presence that stands in front of her.

"Hey! Lay off her!" a commanding voice yells.

Jeanne notices the noise toning down, causing her hands to drop a bit. She looks up to find a familiar brunette protecting her.

"Y-Yoh-kun..." one of the girls mumbles. The girls look at each other with worried faces then they quickly walk out of the scene.

Yoh swiftly helps Jeanne up on her feet and asks, "Are you all right?"

Jeanne shakily nods at him. "Yes, thank you."

Yoh's eyes furrow at her predicament. "Those girls, really... They're probably Ren's fans."

Jeanne nods in confirmation.

"I should talk to Ren about-"

"N-No!" Jeanne shouts, grabbing Yoh's polo at the same time. Yoh's eyes perk up at the suddenness and looks at her. Jeanne yelps and releases him. "I-I mean... please..." her eyes droop down, "Don't tell him anything... not after I finally get to talk to him again."

With that, Jeanne takes her bag from the ground and pats the dust off. She takes a good look at Yoh, reminding him through her eyes not to mention anything to Ren, and then turns to go to class.

Yoh scratches the back of his head. "This is going to be bad..."

* * *

A/N: End of chapter 10. I do hope I get to finish this before my classes resume.


	11. The Truth

A/N: A month-awaited updated. Lol I'm sorry again for this. I constantly need someone to remind me to update and finish this. -_-;;

* * *

Asakura Yoh cannot take the events of the morning out of his mind. He's earnestly concerned about Jeanne's safety. Much more so when he arrived in the classroom with Jeanne seemingly trying to catch Ren's attention, but it looked like he didn't even spare her a glance.

This gets Yoh very, very worried.

And so after classes, he tries approaching Jeanne again.

"Jeanne, hey," he starts with his ever goofy smile.

Jeanne looks up from her desk and forces out a smile. "Ah, Yoh-kun."

"So about earlier..."

"Please don't mind it, Yoh-kun. Things will die down soon enough. People are just not used to it, that's why they're reacting," Jeanne cuts him off. Yoh senses the disapproving tone from the quiet girl and tries to approach in a different manner. So he asks her, "Hey, how about having lunch with me and Anna?"

* * *

She's not really sure, but Ren was acting weird earlier. He shrugged and turned her away quickly, despite of what happened that weekend. Jeanne tries to convince herself that Ren's just having a bad day. Surely, he'll come back to his senses soon.

Anna and Yoh share glances as Jeanne heaves a sigh for at least the third time now.

Yoh invited her over knowing that she'd probably be like this, but he expected her mood to go for the better since she'd be around company. Another letdown was thinking that Anna would have a girl chat with Jeanne, but that too was quickly dismissed when he told Anna; her staggering eyes saying 'if you think I'm going to be all sparkly and twinkly with her, I'll kill you!' gave him the hint.

Anna, who was for the most part responsible for Ren's bitter mood, now gets irritated by the display of Yoh and Jeanne's behaviour around the table. "Will you two give it a rest already?"

The two sad looking teens snap from their worlds and quickly turn their attentions to the blonde. She folds her arms in front of her and yells, also catching the attention of nearby tables in the cafeteria, "Ren's just a wuss, you understand? Pushing his girlfriend away like that..."

Jeanne could hear someone abruptly standing up then sitting down just behind her, but she doesn't feel up to turning over as to who it is.

"Anna-san..." Jeanne whispers, her confusion and anger colliding inside. Sure, maybe Ren was treating her badly – ignoring and pushing her aside – but that wasn't all he was! He was...

"He's actually kind and sweet. Sure, things aren't as I thought they would be... especially now he gave me a spot next to him, despite it being just a contract sort of thing... but... but... but that's all I'll ask of him. I won't try to get closer, if he doesn't want to... I won't force him to like me... I... I'll even try to forget that stupid, childish promise we made to each other..."

Yoh and Anna's eyes flicker at her words. Anna clicks her tongue and turns her head away. That boy sure is lucky to have a pure girl like Maiden Jeanne over here to protect him. Maybe it was wrong for her to put them together, Anna ponders. She shakes her head in disapproval; no, Maiden Jeanne's the right person to turn that ingrate into at least another percent of a better person.

"What, hold on a minute, Jeanne," Yoh says, cutting in between her hiccups and word of admiration for Ren, "You said something about a promise? What exactly is it? And I've been meaning to ask you this but, what exactly is your relationship to Ren? What I mean to say is... who was he in your past?"

Jeanne's streaming tears slowly halt at Yoh's words. That's right; Ren was a part of her past. He was someone she knew, probably even before these two people in front of her. He was someone... that saved her.

"Ren... Ren and I... I am... no, was... his fiancée," she whispers with a blush on her face and confidence in her tone.

Yoh's head starts to spin a little at the shocking information while Anna stares at her with the usual blank expression. Could she probably have known? Jeanne shrugs at the thought and continues on.

"Yes, that's how it was. Our parents decided it for us and, we were often sent to each other's houses during the weekends to play with each other. This continued on for several months until... well... the accident happened."

"Accident?" Anna almost asks when those words escape Yoh's mouth just a second earlier than hers.

Jeanne nods. Her reminiscing weak smile turns a little over into a frown. "I was betrothed to Ren because my parents were going bankrupt. Being close friends with the Tao family, my mother and Ren's mother agreed on the whole thing. And then... things turned out bad. We received a late night call from Ren's mother saying that they would no longer keep the engagement. After that call, mom and dad hurriedly rushed over to the Tao residence, despite a winter storm arriving that night. I was left behind at home."

"The hours flew by but I still waited for their return. It wasn't until Marco-nii came rushing to the house that I finally felt something bad happen to them," a new set of tears stroll down Jeanne's face now, and she continues, really unbothered by their presence, "Needless to say, they died that night. It turns out, on their way home, a drunken truck driver run them over. And that was the end of it all... Regardless of that, I didn't and still don't blame the Tao family. But Marco-nii did. After he had decided to take care of me, he made me promise him I'd have nothing to do with the Tao family – the family that sent my parents to their deathbeds."

The three sit quietly at the table. Jeanne finally gets the control on her tears and forces them to stop. After a few moment pass, Yoh places a hand on Jeanne's, saying, "I'm sorry for what happened to your parents." Anna nods, signalling that she felt the same.

Jeanne pats Yoh's hand on hers and removes it.

"Thank you, Yoh-kun, Anna-san."

"So?" Anna says, "What do you plan to do now? Does Ren know any of these things you told us?"

Jeanne tries to smile at her.

"I've been wondering about that as well. It's true that we played at each other's houses, but... I don't think he thought it was anything more than that. And since he's been exposed to so many people before, I doubt he remembers me specifically. To him, I just might be 'that girl he used to play with as a kid'."

"Then there's that thing about a promise. If you don't mind, won't you tell us?" Yoh asks as politely as he can. Jeanne's eyes find his honest ones and nods. This kind of thing... only the two of them will understand. That's what she believes.

She giggles softly and then tells them, "Thinking about it now, I think his parents never told him we were 'engaged'. They probably just told him that he was meeting a kid of a friend of theirs or something. Like I said, we spent the weekends together. We would usually explore the mansion and eat a lot of snacks when we stayed at his house. If we were at mine, mom would read us bed time stories and watch kiddie shows... Then one particular night, after mom tucked us in and left, we were just whispering stuff to each other when he said he'd promise to marry me. He told me that he'd always love me and marry me. Naively of course, I said yes... and that was it. That was the promise that will never come to life."

Jeanne starts to feel a bit heavy, as if the world she kept to herself is finally getting a bit bigger. Yoh and Anna's eyes suddenly sparkle and Jeanne catches this. Surprisingly, they're smiling to each other (well, Anna looks like she's smiling... or something).

"Say, Jeanne," Yoh says lively, "did you love Ren?"

Without a second's delay, she declares, "Yes! Yes I did! And still do! I love him. He saved me, you know? When mom and dad were gone, when Marco-nii kept reminding me about the Tao family's fault against us and when I lived through my lonely days thinking about it all, thoughts of Ren's kindness and promise kept me going! That's why..." she sobs, "that's why... I won't stop believing he'll at least love me a little bit back."

And as if the world is demanding their attention, the school bell rings. Lunch break's over and it's time to go back to class, it says. Anna gives Yoh a look and the boy nods at her. Anna stands up from her seat and walks over to Jeanne. She pats her back and tells her to go to the rest room before going back into the classroom. Jeanne obediently does as she's told and Anna quietly follows from behind her.

Yoh smiles as his eyes trail the two girls out of the cafeteria. Now it's his turn.

He stands up from his seat and walks over to the table behind Jeanne's seat. The boy sitting alone on the chair covers his face and Yoh swears he can hear a manly squeal underneath it. Yoh puts a hand on the boy's shoulder and calmly tells him, "We should go too, Ren."

* * *

A/N: Finally a little closure. I'm planning to end this soon, now that I've given a lot of information.


	12. I Understand

A/N: And again, thank you megamantai for the usual reminder! Haha!

* * *

After a whirlwind of events from today, Maiden Jeanne decides to go home quickly to relieve some stress. She starts to plan everything out: before going home, she'll drop by a convenience store to buy some pocky, go home and wash up, then lie down on her bed and do some studying. As for Ren... well, it seems like he doesn't want to see her for the moment.

So when the last bell finally rings, she calmly stands up from her desk and grabs her shoulder bag, while the others now rush out the door or walk over to their own groups. She quickens her pace. Then all of a sudden, her supposed boyfriend calls out her name.

"Jeanne. Wait up," he said, loud enough for the whole class tone down their voices and tune in to this one. This makes her stop on her tracks. She was actually just a few millimetres from the door now. She turns around to find him picking up his bag and jogging up to her; she also notices the eyes of the girls in the class following him and finally locking their furious eyes on her.

"Let's go home together," he proposes as a hint of happiness elevates from his tone. But Jeanne completely missed that.

"S-Sorry, Ren-kun," she stutters.

Ren's brows rise. "Do you have plans or something?"

"N-Not-... Well, kind of. M-Misato-chan and I are... actually getting together today... so..." she knows she's lying... but for what? She doesn't even know; all she does know, though, is that everyone's heavy gazes are putting too much pressure on her.

"Then... let me take you two home at least..." Ren offers, clearly wanting to be near her, for no particular reason she knows.

_It's tempting, really tempting_, she argues, _but everyone's... everyone's... I love you, Ren, but everyone... hates me being near you!_

Quickly realizing that she was being self-conscious, she runs out of the room, leaving the surprised and confused Ren behind. Snapping out of his own stupor, Ren runs out the room, shifts his head left to right, hoping to find her trail and follow it. Then...

"Finally, she gets the idea that Ren-kun is just _so_ not for her."

"Totally. Doesn't she know Ren-kun's for _everyone_?"

"What a _stupid_ girl."

_Ah. So that's what it was._

Ren clicks his tongue and follows his instincts.

_Let's go right!_

He dashes down the hallway, yelling and warning everyone on ahead to move, and eventually takes a flight of stairs up to the rooftop. He's not sure, but he's hoping she's going there...

And as if his prayers were answered, he gets a glimpse of a hem of her skirt just meters above him. He runs faster now and makes loud stomping noises on the metal steps as he does. He hears the doors above opening and banging loudly as it closed.

As he finally reaches the door, Ren grabs for the doorknob but it doesn't budge. He looks at the knob and realizes it's a double-sided lock. He yells out for her, "Jeanne! Jeanne! Open up! Hey! Are you listening?"

Jeanne pulls on the knob tightly.

_Don't be here! Don't be here! Don't be here! Go home, Ren! Go home!_

And just like during her time with Yoh and Anna earlier, she starts feeling hot liquids streaming down her perfectly aligned cheeks. She feels so stupid, so useless and so... tired. It's just been the first day at school but everything's not going as she planned when she decided to go out with Ren. Actually, she never thought of the consequences, not before... but now... now that she realizes how cowardly she was, she quickly decided she wasn't fit to be by his side. Not even as the 'alternative'.

"Jeanne! Listen! I remember!" Ren yells from the other side of the door, still trying to open the object in his hands. "I remember you, do you hear me!?"

Jeanne's heart stops for a millisecond.

_What does he mean by that?_

"Look, I'm sorry if I was eavesdropping earlier, but Yoh told me to just listen... and well... that doesn't matter now! Please open the door! Let's talk!" he yells, making two pounds on the door.

_So he heard... he heard everything..._

Jeanne unconsciously releases her hold on the door and slumps down on her butt. Another object falls to the ground as she hits the ground: the key she used to lock the door. Being representative did have its perks.

The tears that wouldn't dare stop get warmer and warmer now, dampening the visible red on her puffy cheeks. They slowly fall down on her leather skirt and balled up hands, which are trembling. All of these go unnoticed by the owner as her thoughts take her to the man beyond the door keeping them apart.

Speaking of the man behind the door, Ren's patience is starting to thin down. Sure, he could use his super cool Chinese martial arts move on the damn thing, but breaking school property would surely alert his mother and sister who were pretty close with the board members of the school. More like, family-related school board members...

In any case, he's desperate to bring her out of there without using brute force. If worse comes to worst, if he ever does break the door down, he'd only injure her. And he was through with hurting her.

"Hey-!"

"So-!" Jeanne yells from behind, her words choked by her tears. He could hear it clearly. "Sorry! I'm so sorry, Ren-kun!"

_Why are you apologizing!?_

"I'm sorry! Even though your mom broke things off between our families... I tried to get in the way again! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she keeps screaming in between hiccups.

_Like I said, why are you apologizing!? If anything... it should be... me!_

"Jeanne! Open up!" Ren cries now, desperate to hold her in his arms. This time, he bangs the door once with his right hand and slowly slides down on his knees. He's not on the verge of tears, oh no, he's too cool for that. But his heart's tearing up inside.

Then nothing. Total silence.

"Jeanne?" he whispers, finally noticing the deafening nothing. "Jeanne!?"

The one thing that's encircling his mind now is this silence. Not even a hiccup or anything from the girl on the other side. He's imagining things now... could she possibly... have jumped...!

"Jeanne-!"

The door knob clicks.

Ren's frightened face is welcomed by a girl with red eyes, nose and cheeks. She looks like an angel who had been crying all night, Ren's mind says. Finally realizing the reality of it all, he takes no more second to lose...

"R-Ren-kun!"

She's wrapped in his arms. Tight, but gentle... Jeanne's surprised hands, which were stiffen in midair, slowly circle him as well. She buries her head on his right nape and breathes in his scent. It's wet. Definitely sweat... The smell of his sweat... was not disgusting. Rather, it's kind of a sweet smell.

"I'm really sorr-!"

"Don't apologize anymore! Geez!" Ren yells, careful not to harm her hearing which was just a few millimetres away. Jeanne's breath stops for a moment then returns to normal. She tightens her hold on him.

"Don't apologize! You didn't do anything bad... so, just..." he tightens his as well.

"I understand... I understand..." she murmurs. She does. She does understand him. So instead of saying anymore, she remains in his arms.

* * *

A/N: A few more chapters, I guess. Then this is over. Belated Merry Christmas everyone! And have an awesome New Year! Sorry, I let you guys wait for a month again...


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